Ciprofloxacin

This a dangerous medication and only used in emergency. There are lawsuits on it for ruptures of tendons, usually starts in feet and legs but can injure any tendons. It can cause your liver to shut down--take with care. Any side effects should be reported. This medicine made me very sick and some doctors are not informed of this. Take charge of your healthcare.

Just before she was released from the hospital, my 90 year old mother was given Cipro when a catheter resulted in a urinary tract infection. Within days she developed a rash which quickly turned into Stevens Johnson Syndrome. Her entire body was "blood red" and she was returned to the hospital and placed in the burn unit. Over the next month her skin flaked and peeled. Her eyes were affected and she could no longer watch TV, read the paper, etc.

She was originally in the hospital for colon cancer.

My Dr. gave this to me because I had diarrhea for almost 2 weeks, no idea why. They did a complete blood count, which came back normal. So the Dr. said it must have not been caused by a bacterial infection but viral. When I asked if Cipro treats viral infections they said yes. The diarrhea stopped the next day after taking it, but I also took one immodium tablet, so not sure which stopped it. But now I have to finish an entire round of Cipro anyway and when I looked it up online and it says Cipro only treats bacterial. Now I have to finish this very strong antibiotic for no reason? Anyone out there who can help me on this? It is making me feel ill.

A few years ago I went to the doctors for a minor bladder infection. He gave me Cipro.

I was in my 50's and never had a reaction to any meds before. Well let me tell you I turned beet red with welts and a fever for two days until I begged for some cordizone pills which cleared it up within a few hours. Now I watch what they give me. Is Cipro the same as Amoxicillin?

A close friend of mine was given Ciprofloxacin and Heracillin (don't know if it's the same name in the US. I live in Sweden).

This was during the summer of 2004.

He also had a lot of other medications.

I noticed that somehting had happend to him. He seemed confused.

That made me turn to the Internet.

I was surprised at the amount of information that was there.

People who had taken antibiotics of this group - and had bad experiences - told their stories. One after the other. They called themselves "floxies" or said that they had been "floxed".

I found the fantastic site - www.fqresearch.org and www.fqvictims.org and also read the equally interesting book "Bitter Pills" by Stephen Fried.

Please don't use this kind of antibiotic ligthly - should be a last resort.

My mom was given Cipro for a Urinary Tract Infection it ended up not being a urinary tract infection but Gallbladder problems while in the hospital she was given more Cipro. Her Gallbladder was removed and she was still taking Cipro. To make the story short she developed C-Difficile a bacteria infection caused by the Cipro killing all her good microorganism and bad.

This medication is terrible. Within a day and a half (3 doses of 500 mg) I broke out in terrible hives. Huge painful itching welts all over my body. Everywhere from behind my knees, under my arms, my back, thighs, neck, scalp, I am completely covered. This is day 2 after stopping the cipro and I am in even worse pain.

The welts are hot to the touch and feel like a sunburn. They just started itching again and I am about to lose my mind. They didn't warn me of any side effects before giving this to me. I have never been allergic to any medication before. I am miserable and will never let anyone in my family take this medication!! Benadryl sort of helped and allows me to sleep at night, but I have children to care for during the day and am stuck in misery.

I suffer from panic and anxiety attacks and was given cipro for an infection, I took 500 mgs 2 x's a day for 6 days before found out about ALL the adverse effect and I stopped taking it. Is it possible that cipro may have made my anxiety worst and I could never recover from this? I don't feel anymore anxious than I normally do but my depersonalization has increased somewhat.

I suffer from re-occurring Urinary tract infections and have been prescribed the entire gamut of recommended antibiotics (Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, Levofloxacin, Nitrofurantoin, Amoxicillin, etc). Ciprofloxacin has been the only prescription that seems to work thoroughly. While it does have a plethora of adverse side effects, they are all listed. Most people just do not bother to read the precautions. I am very grateful that this drug is available.

I know to many of you this may not seem as big a deal as it is to me. I had two Chinese Shar Pei, one had gotten bitten by a nasty poisonous spider and one had mere skin problems (a yeast infection). Both of my boys were put on Cipro. Some time lapsed but one of my boys started losing an enormous amount of weight. I took him him into the vet and they ran a CBC on him. His kidneys had failed completely. He had been super healthy before this.

Not even a month later same symptoms, weight loss, no appetite, lethargic. I took my second boy in and they ran a CBC on him. The tech came out with a quizzical look on her face. Holding his blood work she said. "Carbon Copy, I wonder what could have caused this" I don't wonder anymore after reading up on this drug. This drug killed two of my Shar Pei there is no doubt in my mind about it. Since that time after contacting a friend of mine I have found out that many Shar Pei have had this same thing happen after a round of Cipro. Please do not let your vet prescribe it for your dog.

I live in Thailand where the pharmacy stores are more lax in dispensing certain drugs. I asked for Amoxicillin and Canesten cream to treat a urinary tract infection. I have used Amoxicillin before with no problems. The pharmacist told me that Cipro was a better product so I chose it over Amoxicillin.

I only took one 500mg tablet two nights ago and within an hour I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital. My symptoms were nausea, dizziness, stomach pain, severe diarrhea, change in vision, restricted breathing, joint pain, tendon stiffness (feet, legs, and arms) and nightmares.

I also noticed the following day that I was sensitive to outdoor light. In my opinion this drug should only be taken under a doctor's supervision. After 2 days from taking only one 500mg tablet I feel a little bit better. I need to know if I am going to feel better enough to take Amoxicillin ?

PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT THAT THIS ANTIBIOTIC SHOULD BE TAKEN ONLY UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION. THE SYMPTOMS YOU EXPERIENCED ARE NOT COMMON, BUT THEY ARE NOT UNHEARD-OF, EITHER.

I took Cipro for an upper respitory infection and I ended up losing my job because I ended up in the ER with a heart rate of 140. I only took this drug for 2 days.

It was the only thing I was taking. Now I am scared to take just about anything. How am I going to know if the next one will do the same thing? Will the next one give me a heart attack instead of just sending my heart rate up?

I took Cipro 500mg when it was prescribed to me by my Dr for a UTI. 2 hrs after taking it I was in the worst pain ever! My muscles ached a had a fever and had the worst stomach cramps ever,and the back pain felt something like labor for women, I'm sure you know what I'm saying. I went back to Dr she said I think you may have just gotten the flu along with a uti. This made me angry I knew it was from the medication. I WILL NEVER TAKE THIS AGAIN!!!!

Only doctors think this stuff is OK...ear infection never cleared and I'm 4 days away from a liver evaluation to see if I nee a transplant! I don't trust any reading taken while on this stuff and I know it will make them mad...I'm not giving a blood sample as scheduled. It's my liver and my body. ENT visit tomorrow and will certainly bring this all to his attention.

I was prescribed Cipro for gastroenteritis. What I didn't know is the common side-effects include nausea (which I didn't have beforehand), GI distress (which I already had), diarrhea (which I had already), lightheadedness, and fatigue. In other words, I started out pretty sick and now I learn that the medicine made me sicker. The doctor has now cut my dosage in half. Might have helped if he'd asked my weight before prescribing 500mg.

This is one of the antibiotics of choice for bacterial G.I. infections. Patients whose doctors prescribe antibiotics for viral infections need to find another practitioner. My doctor is pretty smart, but the side-effects that made my life miserable have no effect on him. Hopefully, he'll be more judicious in the future.

I was put on Cipro for 5 days for UTI. On day 6 I developed pressure pain in my sinus, head and back of neck. I have slight dizziness and less focused vision.

My blood pressure is normal, a dentist checked my bite and it's fine. The doctor who prescribed it says no patient has had problems.

I have since read several similar stories on the internet.

I had always been very healthy, not on any medication except for Thyroid (armour and T3).

This has been going on for 3 weeks. Please help. Thank you.

JWC, I am having the same symptoms! I went to the ER 2 months ago because I was vomiting, dizzy and a terrible headache. I was scared because I couldn't even stand up without feeling like I was going to pass out. The ER said I was dehydrated and had a UTI and gave me Cipro. I felt better but a few weeks later had the same exact thing. This time I bought Cranberry juice, went to my doctor and they gave me more Cipro. After the third time this happened (last week) I started researching the internet and now suspect it's my gall bladder.

I have a dr. appt and am going to get my liver and gall bladder checked. Maybe that is what you are experiencing too? Please let me know if you have had further tests or have found out what is causing your symptoms.
Thank you, Diane

I have been on cipro 500 mg for a week and I have felt terrible the whole time. It was prescribed for a bladder infection. This is the last dose and I can't wait to see if I will feel better. My doctor doesn't usually prescribe this for me but I seem to have recurring urinary infections. I have many of the same symptoms described above, except no severe reactions like hives, etc.

I am scared to death now. I have been very ill for quite some time. I have had so many illnesses and I have anklosing spondlitis and my back is a nightmare. Last spring it all started with a severe infection of my urinary tract. I took the leavaquin and I almost died. My fever went to 104. I was severely dehydrated and they could not get my fever down. It was terrible.

It took 6 months to get rid of an infection and 6 antibiotics. I took the Cipro, the leavaquin and some others. I have been very sick since then with all sorts of problems. I had to have my galll bladder removed. It was completely full of
stones. They found a tumor on my liver and they did a biopsy and it was not cancer but they have no idea what caused it.

I have been so sick that I have almost died and wanted to and now again I am on cipro and I am worried sick that this will end up killing me but I had no idea about this until I saw this. I don't know what to do now.

Be careful with cipro....took for urinary infection and almost died with heart attack, nervousness, palpitations and sure could not rest let alone sleep.

Jar,

When did your palpitations start and have they since gone? I too took cipro and have had palpitations!

Cipro, I had taken it about a year and seven months ago, since then I have multiple tears in my shoulder, heart palpitations, suffered sudden cardiac death, joint pain, tendonitis, blurred vision, depression, etc. First symptoms started about a week after taking two 500mg tablets a day for one week, tendinitis- sudden cardiac death about 9 months later according to my heart doctor my age at the time 36 and being a weightlifter I was able to start my heart back after I fainted. Other diagnosis I have been told are left bundle branch blockage, prolongation of the qt interval, palpitations, angina, dyshpia, syncope, blurred vision and so on.

I was in perfect health before cipro, hardly ever got sick, exercised daily, loved to go out with friends etc. Now I hate to get up everyday and deal with the pain.....

I just finished taking cipro today after 7 days. Last night I had the worst panic attack I've ever had. My whole body was restless, my calves feel terribly tight and I have shortness of breath. Will the anxiety and panic attacks which I've never had before go away now that I've stopped?

I took 1 months course of cipro 500mg 2 x day back in July 07 and within a week got anxiety insomnia, a feeling of unreality 24/7 and foreboding and uneasy feelings, amongst other things. I went back to the Dr and he persuaded me to finish the course. Like a fool I did.

2 1/2 years later I still have all the above and can't work, oh I also had strange yellow bruises come up and loss of appetite and sensitivity to sunlight, these went after stopping this poison. My anxiety has also reduced.

But the worst thing is this feeling as though I'm not here making my surroundings seem unreal and detached.

Dudley

I started taking Ciprofloxacn Feb.25 2010 2x a day. Well I feel dizzy and anxious/depressed. I hope pain in my lower ab will feel better soon??? Today is Feb 28th,2010.

Marlene